Emergencies Warrant Stealing, Right?
by 9thForever
Summary: Laura finds herself in a problem, where her only option is to steal something (with the intent to return) but gets caught.. Twice.


Lola Perry, one of Laura's best friends. Possibly one of her best influences at college, but there was a catch to that. Her OCD drove nearly everyone up the wall. The young girl had been hanging around lately more than before, and some of her nagging and habits wore off. Perhaps because of guilt, but Laura made an effort to clean up her room before the girl would come over. She just wanted to let the girl relax. Besides, she needed to start being more responsible. It wouldn't hurt to clean up once in a while. She was always harping on her roommate about it, and being busy with various papers wasn't a good enough reason to be a hypocrite.

Feeling rather proud about herself, Laura gathered up her laundry (which had been neglected for weeks), every last sock. She piled the clothing into a basket and pushed it down the hallway to her dorms shared laundry room. There wasn't a single problem she could find with washing the laundry, except that she needed to be there the whole time. Thankfully she brought a book or two to catch an hour or so of isolated studying.

The studying didn't last nearly as long as she hoped, because her phone went off. Not once, not twice. Seven times. She had brushed the first few off, but eventually she couldn't. Curiosity got the better of her. Shamelessly, she wanted to know if it was Carmilla being obnoxious about something. The girl knew how to get under her skin, and sending multiple, misspelled, short texts, was one of those things which happened all too often. How the dark haired girl ever got her number, she didn't know. This time, it wasn't Carmilla. It was Danny. Something was up, she didn't say what she needed, but it was an emergency, and to call her as soon as she could. Hoping nothing bad happened, Laura closed her books and dialed Danny.

"WHERE ARE YOU?" The girl shouted, making Laura pull the phone from her ear.

"What's going on?"

"Too complex for the phone. Where are you at? I went to your room and you weren't there."

"Laundry room. I-"

"I'll be there in five." Before Laura could even react Danny hung up. Not even five minutes later and the tall ginger arrived in a full sprint, not the least bit winded.

"Danny!" Laura was confused, almost in shock. She didn't know what was going on and that intrigued her.

"Hey. It's good to see you. You'll never guess what we found at the library!"

"You were at the library? What happened?"

"Kirsch dragged me down there to show him some more photos of his latest party."

"Why the library though?"

"His computer is dead. Anyway, when we were scrolling through them I saw Betty."

"BETTY?" Laura yelled, jolting upwards.

"Yeah! I've been trying to get you ever since."

"Are you sure it was her? She's been missing for weeks, almost the entire semester."

"Come see, I'm pretty sure it was her. If it was, that's a good thing, right? It means she's somewhere here. Alive. All we'd have to do is track her down and get some answers. Hell, maybe she'd move back in with you." Without thinking twice, Laura nodded and ran out of the room with Danny.

The hype quickly faded when they both realized the girl wasn't Betty, but someone else. The resemblance was good, but Betty didn't have nearly as many tattoos as the girl in question did. Also, the eye colour was wrong. The list of flaws was quite long, but Laura only pointed out the two. Danny was embarrassed over the whole matter, but Laura accepted her apology. And at a quick glance, she would've made the same mistake. Going to her room she groaned once she realized she left her laundry in the washer. Dragging herself down the hallway, Laura went back only to find the washer empty.

"What." Maybe she was just going crazy? She asked around, looked everywhere nearby, even waited a few hours before defeat set in. The room didn't have cameras, and no one nearby had seen anything. The halls didn't have cameras either. She felt utterly screwed. Damn Danny. No, this wasn't her fault. Laura was just angry and tired. Who would do this to someone else? It had to be a sorority thing. Stealing someone else's clothing.. How low. As Laura's free time dwindled down, she had to make it to her class. At least the thief left her school books. After class she put up posters and fliers with an email attached, hoping someone would help her out.

The next day came, and still no replies. She was angry enough that she went to the summer sororities leader. Nothing. No leads. Maybe the alchemy club, but that felt soooo unlikely. The Zeta's also denied anything to do with the stealing of her clothing, Kirsch and Will verified the honesty of the Zeta's claim against any of them. Once again, she felt helpless on the matter. She wouldn't even be all that mad if it hadn't been all of her clothing. Every last outfit she owned, which wasn't much. Her anger wasn't necessarily directed towards the clothing (no matter how cute some of it was) but the fact someone would take it. Laura wasn't exactly rich, she only made it to Silas on scholarships and double shifts. Her dad had pitched in, but she felt too guilty taking from him. She didn't exactly have the money to replace the clothing, or the time. Being late for class because she was investigating a helpless cause wouldn't fly past her professors so easily.

The second day was well underway when a classmate decided to point out to Laura that she hadn't changed in three days. She wasn't starting to smell, but that disgusted her classmate to an extent, and simply it also disgusted herself as well. If LaFontain and Perry hadn't been away for the week she would've willingly asked Perry to loan something, just until she got her monthly scholarship check. Danny was out of the question, because the girl was a foot taller. Nothing would fit. As soon as she got back to her room, and after ranting to her vlog, she sat on her bed and stared at the floor. Only two more weeks of this misery. Upset was an understatement, but she wasn't about to let it get the best of her.

When she woke up the next morning, and finished her shower, she was standing in a towel, dreading the same clothing for a forth day. As she bent over to step into her jeans, she saw a pile of Carmilla's clothing scattered on the floor. It looked clean, and smelled it too. In fact, they smelled like Carmilla, wonderful. A constant reminder of the girl she had been crushing on for a while wouldn't kill anyone. She wouldn't mind, would she? After all the girl didn't mind taking her pillow every night. Or day. Laura never caught her in the act. Swallowing her pride, Laura took the clothes and began dressing.

Thank god that Carmilla was roughly her size, only a little taller. She felt uncomfortable, knowing that she herself had become a thief, but this was under different circumstances. Emergencies warrant stealing, right? Well, borrowing. There was no way she would ever keep Carmilla's clothing, the girl wore way too much black. As she looked at the shirt in the mirror she sighed and muttered a complaint under her breath.

"I don't even like The Clash.." Carmilla's black jeans fit surprisingly well, skin tight but not too tight. Almost like they were made for her. Poking her head out of the bathroom door, she guiltily watched her roommate sleep. Slipping on her shoes, she grabbed her books and went to class.

After her class ended, Danny towered over her, eyeing her outfit up and down.

"The Clash?"

"Yeah.." Laura chuckled nervously, looking down to the shirt. "London Calling. The Clash rock.."

"You don't.. Since when do you and deadhead wear each others clothing?"

"I.. I needed to borrow something until I can replace mine."

"It's still missing?"

"Yeah.."

"Poor you. Hopefully she doesn't make you wear her leather next."

"Hey, it's not that bad." The smaller protested, swatting helplessly at her arm. "And Carmilla always makes leather look badass."

"Not sure you could pull it off too." Rolling her eyes, Laura hugged the tall girl before heading back to her room.

Nervously she opened the door. The dark haired roommate was still asleep, sprawled over her bed. That gave Laura a moment of relaxation. Carmilla was always pleasant when she slept, and rather beautiful. Her usual brooding attitude ceased, instead an innocent, peaceful one. Deciding since she needed to make up to Carm about taking her clothing, Laura grabbed her pillow and set it on the girls chest. Inhaling deeply, the girl lift her arm to hug it as she rolled towards the wall, still asleep.

A couple hours passed before Carmilla rose from her bed. Following her usual habit, she went straight to the fridge.

"Hey Carm. Did you sleep well?" Still drinking, the girl eventually went back to her bed to sit.

"Was alright. Before you start, I didn't take the pillow this time."

"I know."

Carmilla raised a brow.

"I sort of handed you it a while ago.. As a peace offering."

"What for?" That was when Carmilla gave the girl her full attention, using a foot to turn the chair around. Her eyes went from her face to the clothing. That was her clothing. "Wow, cutie. You must have missed me."

"Nooo... That's not at all why I borrowed it."

"Stole."

"Exactly." She swallowed thickly, blushing faintly from Carmilla's implication. Sure they hadn't interacted the last few days, but Laura wouldn't admit that she missed her as much as she did. Carmilla, although frustrating as hell, had grown on her. Laura loved the snarky comments, how fast and accurate they were at times.

"Explain."

"I was washing my laundry when Danny needed me. I stupidly left them in the washer and someone stole them.."

"Alright."

"Alright?" Laura was confused now.

"Yup."

"What do you mean?"

"For starters, you look cute in the clothes. Wear them if you like."

"Sooo... You're not mad?" She had to clarify. Her cheeks were growing a little warmer at the compliment.

"No." Carmilla set her empty glass on the table.

"Why not? I mean.. Honestly, you sound like you're enjoying it."

"I am."

"Then why?"

"Like I said. You look cute in it, creampuff, and also it'll piss off the fire giant." Laura laughed, shaking her head. "A small victory over her."

"She's not as bad as you make her out to be, Carm."

"To you." She sighed, seeming uninterested.

"Okay. Well, thank you." Grinning towards the now brooding girl, Laura leaned over and kissed her cheek.

"Then we're good?"

"Mmhm." Laura knew damn well that kissing her cheek would put her in a better mood, even if she tried pretending she wasn't. She watched as the girl lift some ridiculously oversized book onto her lap, smirk plastered across her face and begin reading before Laura returned to her schoolwork.


End file.
